Velvet’s POV

A WEEK LATER

The hallway was dark and cold. I ran. Footsteps chased me. Their laughter echoed, sharp and cruel.

“Where do you think you’re going, Mate snatcher?” one shouted.

That word burned. Mate snatcher.

Different. An outcast. A reminder that I didn't belong.

Damn, I hate how they made that word sound.

“Mate snatcher.”

No one has ever called me this name or harassed me before Selina came in here on a visit. Last week she was on campus, meeting with some of the professors and familiarizing herself with some of the students.

But schooling here wasn't going to be a bed of roses, I knew.

I...